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Review Summary

If it weren't for the fact that several of its characters die, Irving Schwartz's twisted, laugh-free comedy "Perception" might be the pilot episode of a low-rent imitation of the television series "Arrested Development." As the jaundiced, disjointed, drug-infested story heads toward its dismal conclusion, its reputable actors vainly struggle to infuse the goings-on with a deadpan psychotic zaniness. But even when viewed sideways, "Perception" is not funny; it's hardly anything at all.  Stephen Holden